The origins of the restoration
Automated in 1980, the Espiguette lighthouse has been lighting up our coastline for 150 years and guiding sailors. An icon and beacon among the sand dunes of the Pointe de l'Espiguette, it is now the subject of a genuine tourist and cultural development project reconciling its function as a maritime signpost and an ecotourism site.
The birth of a development project
In 2014, the State, which owns the lighthouses, identified around a hundred remarkable lighthouses. All automated, they no longer require a permanent human presence to ensure their maritime signalling function. As a result, many of the lighthouses’ outbuildings, formerly used to house the keepers, are now unused and of heritage interest. It is in this context that the State turned to the Conservatoire du littoral to study the feasibility of enhancing the value of the lighthouses and their outbuildings through projects aimed at welcoming the public.
The Conservatoire du littoral launched studies into the cultural and tourist potential of lighthouses located near land it already owned. The Espiguette lighthouse in the commune of Le Grau-du-Roi, listed as a historic monument and still in operation, showed that it was entirely possible to reconcile welcoming the public with providing maritime signalling.
Jérôme HIRIGOYEN - Project Manager at the Conservatoire du littoral (Coastal Conservation Agency)
More than 150 years after its construction, the Espiguette lighthouse is opening its doors to visitors.
Ever since the Tower of Alexandria was built on the island of Pharos, lighthouses have played a role that goes beyond guiding sailors. They have also been symbols of wealth and power. The care taken in decorating these monuments of maritime architecture and the imagination associated with them complemented their functional interest. However, with automation, lighthouse keepers ceased their duties and the maintenance they had provided until then was limited to keeping the maritime signalling equipment in good working order, without any guarantee that the architectural interest of the building would be preserved.
The State therefore decided to entrust a selection of lighthouses to the Conservatoire du littoral (Coastal Conservation Agency) so that it could work with the local authorities concerned to develop cultural and tourist projects. By opening them to the public, the lighthouses have thus taken on an additional function that further justifies the restoration and maintenance work being carried out, such as that benefiting the Espiguette lighthouse. Visiting helps to preserve!
Le Grau du Roi, project owner for the restoration project
Studies on cultural and tourist development have shown that opening this maritime heritage to the public was an opportunity to promote the area, but also a means of restoring and maintaining these buildings, which are listed as historic monuments. The municipality of Le Grau-du-Roi therefore took on the role of project manager for the restoration and development of the Espiguette lighthouse, as well as ensuring its occupation, managing the lighthouse and its annexes, and welcoming the public.
Dr Robert Crauste – Mayor of Le Grau-du-Roi
“Preserving and promoting the lighthouse. It is this conviction, coupled with determination, that has driven our approach. The monument will be open to visitors so that the residents of Graulens can enjoy it themselves and so that the Espiguette lighthouse can become a tourist attraction in the spirit of the Grand Site de France. The public will thus be able to discover a built heritage integrated into a remarkable environment and in line with sustainable tourism all year round.”
Acknowledgements
Technical and financial partners
Conservatoire du littoral
ETAT -SGAR et Préfecture du Gard
ETAT – DRAC - Pôle Patrimoine /Conservation régionale des monuments historiques
ETAT DDTM
ETAT DREAL – Inspection des sites
UDAP - Unités Départementales de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine
REGION Direction Transition Ecologique et Energétique et Direction Tourisme et Direction Europe et Action Internationale
CD30 Direction de l'eau et de la Valorisation du Patrimoine Naturel et Direction de l’Attractivité du Territoire et de l’Habitat / Service Aménagement du Territoire et Collectivités
LES MOE et BE majeurs
Claire FLORENZANO - A+P
Ugo NOCERA - AAUN
Flavio BONUCCELLI - Bonuccelli scénographe
Alexandre LEBEL - Agence Thomas Gentilini
Claire BOITEL - JLB graphiste
Philippe BELIN - P. Belin muséographe
Pierre-Jean TRABON - TRABON Architectures
Maëlle FERRIEU
Joseph Moro - Chronologie Ingénerie
Corinne Damonville - Véritas
Médiéval (Etude de faisabilité)
Companies
Entreprises Travaux Non classé
Lot1 - Bourdarios
Lot2 et 3 - Au cœur du bois
Lot4 et 5 - Menuiseries montpelliéraines
Lot6 - Cuartero
Lot7 -BG Plomberie
Lot8 -SPIE
Lot9 et 10 - Socamo
Lot11 - Colas
Lot12 - Lovely toilettes
Lot14 - Sequoia
Lot15 - Tactile Studio
Lot16 - anima Viva
Lot17 - Semap
Lot18 - Empreinte
Entreprises travaux parties classées
Lot1 - RBMH
Lot2 - Muzzarelli
Lot3 - La Clinique de l’étanchéité
Lot4 -RBMH
Lot5 - Lutz ébénisterie-menuiserie
Lot6 - Les Compagnons Français
Lot7 - SPIE NETWORK
Entreprises cheminement
Lot n°1 et Lot n°3 - PHILIP FRERES SAS
Lot n°2 - COLAS
Lot n°4 - ALLIANCE CONSULTANTS
Acknowledgements
Conservatoire du Littoral
Conseil départemental du Gard / Espaces naturels sensibles
DDTM, Direction départementale des territoires et de la mer
DIRM Phares et Balises
DIR Méditerranée DIRMED/DRC
DRAC Occitanie / Conservation des Monuments Historiques
DREAL Occitanie
Médiéval AFDP (étude de faisabilité)
Région Occitanie, Direction de la Transition Ecologique et Energétique
UDAP (Gard)
Sémaphore de l’Espiguette, Marine Nationale
Syndicat Mixte de Gestion de la Camargue Gardoise
Enhancement of the Espiguette lighthouse
The project was managed by the municipality and several municipal departments, in particular the Structural Projects Department, the General Administration Department, the Public Procurement Department, the Finance Department and the Technical Services Department. With the project phase now complete, the municipality has entrusted the local public company Le Grau du Roi Développement with the task of bringing this historic site, a symbol of our heritage, to life on a daily basis.